Solomon Rudat flies into battle. (Jacob Lujan photo)
“I’m so proud of this team stepping up and playing a great game.”
Facing a stern test Thursday afternoon at Friday Harbor, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad came away with a hard-earned scoreless tie to maintain their place in the standings.
The draw against a top-flight foe is the first stalemate in 26 games at CHS for coach Jim Kunz, but one he can live with.
“Great game. Super tough. So physical,” he said.
“Not many fouls being called so second half got brutal. Elbows were thrown and tempers were high on both sides.”
With the tie Coupeville sits at 5-1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 8-3-1 overall and holds on to second place in the ten-team conference.
Two-time defending state champ Orcas Island (6-0-0 for 18 points) is atop the league, while CHS has 16, followed by Mount Vernon Christian (5-1-0 for 15), Providence Classical Christian (4-2-0 for 12), and Friday Harbor (3-2-1 for 10).
La Conner (3-3-0 for nine), Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (1-4-1 for four), Evangel Classical (1-4-1 for four), Lopez Island (1-6-0 for three), and Grace Academy (0-6-0 for zippo) round out the field.
Coupeville closes regular season play with a road trip to PCC October 21, a non-conference home tilt against Crosspoint Christian two days later, then a Senior Night showdown October 28 with Orcas.
With the top six NWL teams making the playoffs, the Wolves are in a prime position, while also hoping to secure a home playoff game — which would be played at Oak Harbor’s stadium.
But that’s the future. For now, the Wolves made the trip back to Whidbey in a good mood.
“They all played awesome, so it’s hard to pinpoint the best,” Kunz said.
“For sure our defensive line — Brian (Thompson), Shiloh (Sandlin), Wyatt (Fitch-Marron), Lincoln (Wagner), with Chayse (Van Velkinburgh) at the six, shut their offense down.
“But I think I could have put Solomon (Rudat) anywhere on the field today.
“He played the best game I’ve ever seen out of him, half in defense and half in midfield.”
Wyatt Fitch-Marron gets a kick out of life. (Julie Wheat photo)
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